IEEE Publications

This style manual provides editorial guidance for IEEE Transactions, Journals, and Letters. It outlines how to divide the parts of a paper, cite figures and tables, and it gives guidelines for specific grammar rules.

IEEE citation style includes in-text citations, numbered in square brackets, which refer to the full citation listed in the reference list at the end of the paper. The reference list is organized numerically, not alphabetically. For examples, see the IEEE Editorial Style Manual.

The Basics:

In-text Citing It is not necessary to mention an author's name, pages used, or date of publication in the in-text citation. Instead, refer to the source with a number in a square bracket, e.g. [1], that will then correspond to the full citation in your reference list.

Place bracketed citations within the line of text, before any punctuation, with a space before the first bracket.

Number your sources as you cite them in the paper. Once you have referred to a source and given it a number, continue to use that number as you cite that source throughout the paper.

When citing multiple sources at once, the preferred method is to list each number separately, in its own brackets, using a comma or dash bteween numbers, as such: [1], [3], [5] or [1] - [5].

Creating a Reference List The Reference List appears at the end of your paper and provides the full citations for all the references you have used. List all references numerically in the order they've been cited within the paper, and include the bracketed number at the beginning of each reference.

Title your list as Referenceseither centered or aligned left at the top of the page.

Create a hanging indent for each reference with the bracketed numbers flush with the left side of the page. The hanging indent highlights the numerical sequence of your references.